Love Conquers All pt 5 of the 6th REAL World Marathon Sammy & Mari
by Mari217
Summary: It's Christmas Eve at Nonna's so holiday magic is in the air!


_Welcome to part 5 of the 6th Annual REAL McRoll Holiday Marathon. There will be a new story every day between now and January 3rd. (Though we retain the right to keep going until January 5th if we're having too much fun.)_

_Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

**Love Conquers All**

"And when your house doesn't have a fireplace, Santa has a magic key," Joan explained as she and DJ sat on the living room floor watching the lights on the tree and doing a puzzle while munching on cheese sticks, waiting for breakfast.

"Really?"

"Aunt Cath told me when we had Christmas at your house last year." She fiddled with her sparkly red and white headband and fitted a piece with Santa's nose in place. "And Santa totally knew we were there. Uncle Steve told him and he said he knew. Santa even said my name and everything."

"Wow," DJ said. "We met him at the mall and he was awesome. He said he knew me and Angie were good." A smile lit his face. "And Cammie, too, so we'll all get presents." He put the last piece of a mitten in place.

Joan's smile mirrored his. "Daddy says I'm his best present, me and Mama."

"Getting to live with Steve and Catherine and Angie and Cammie is like a present." His dark eyes shone with an emotion Joan couldn't identify as contentment, but she reached out and squeezed his hand, knowing on a deeper level her newest cousin was happy with her beloved Aunt and Uncle and Cousin Angie.

"I'm happy you're my cousin. When your judge hits the hammer I'm gonna cheer real loud. It'll be fun like when Daddy officially adopted me." She took a bite of string cheese and chewed. "We don't have a movie when Mama adopted me, but we can see the picture, it's on her phone."

DJ's brow rose, then he blinked at her. "Wait, your mommy adopted you?"

Joan's jingle bell necklace rang as she kneeled up and nodded. "Uh huh, when I was a baby. Littler than Angie. Before we met Daddy."

"I… that's ...I thought only Aaron adopted you."

"No, Mama did, too. Then we met Daddy and got married." She twirled her necklace around a finger. "I was the flower girl." Joan held up two fingers. " Two times. First for Aunt Cath and Uncle Steve, then Mama and Daddy."

DJ wasn't exactly sure what a flower girl did, but Joan was beaming so he knew it was something really good. "Cool."

"Ya know, it's like getting to be your mommy and daddy, Aunt Cath and Uncle Steve are getting a present cause they got another kid, like Daddy says about me."

Just then, Mary walked into the room, checking on the quiet six year olds.

"Hey, you two, how are we doing in here?"

"Hi, Mama, I told DJ about our adoption picture, can he see?"

Mary pulled her phone from her back pocket. "Of course." She thumbed to the photo of herself and a tiny Joan, smiling in the courthouse. Passing it to her daughter and nephew, she said, "That's when my peanut really was a little peanut."

Shaking her head at the beautiful, confident six year old, she thought it seemed like yesterday and a lifetime ago. She was so far from who'd she'd been that day. The excited, scared young woman who hadn't told a soul about her plan was light years from the happily married mom who was on a family vacation with twenty plus members.

"That's me and that's Mama and it was her happiest day, right?" Joan's voice brought her back to the moment.

"The happiest." She sat between the kids and hugged them each in turn. "So trust me when I say I know Steve, Catherine and Angie and all the rest of us are so happy to be your family, DJ. I know what I'm talking about."

Smiling into a group hug when DJ wrapped his arms around her and Joan followed suit, she blinked back a tear thinking it was the first hug with her nephew that he had initiated. Kissing his temple, she whispered, "The first of many."

* * *

"Is everything ok?" Steve asked as he watched Nonna and DJ walk hand in hand towards the living room.

"Everything is fine, nipote," Nonna smiled. "This handsome young man and I just have a few things to talk about. The others are sitting down to breakfast. Why don't you join them and we'll be along in a few minutes."

They continued on their way and Steve watched as Nonna took a seat in her usual chair and DJ crawled immediately into her lap.

"Now, why don't you tell me what's on your mind?" Nonna asked softly.

"Nothing." DJ's voice was quiet as his eyes fell to his lap. "I'm ok."

She placed her hand under his chin and raised it gently until their eyes met. "I have a lot of experience with little boys your age, cara mia, and I know there's something you need to talk about. I promise you'll feel better if you tell Nonna."

DJ bit his lip and Nonna simply smiled and waited patiently. She knew he'd tell her what was happening when he was ready.

"Do you remember last night when we were making paper snowmen and writing names on them?" he asked.

Nonna nodded. "I do."

"Joan wrote _Mommy_ and _Daddy _on the ones she made for Mary and Aaron because she's officially adopted by them both. I saw the picture. Joan was just a baby. But now she's official."

Nonna's heart ached for the uncertainty she saw in the young boy's eyes. Her faith told her to forgive the people who had put it there. That vengeance was not her job. She knew the best thing she could do was love him with everything she had inside her. Drown out all the negative things that had happened to him in his young life with positive experiences.

She watched as the young boy struggled to put his emotions into words. It was clear that years of either having no one listen to him, or worse yet, having them belittle his feelings, had made him reticent to share what was truly on his mind.

Her memories flashed back to holding generations of young and not so young boys in her family in this very living room as they dealt with everything from skinned knees to unrequited love to senseless death. Over the years she'd gotten pretty good at hearing their unspoken words.

"And you wanted to write Mommy and Daddy on the ones you made for Steve and Catherine," she said as more of a statement than a question.

DJ nodded silently as his lip began to quiver and tears began to slip down his cheeks. "But I couldn't because I'm not official yet."

Nonna wrapped him a tight hug, choking back tears of her own. "Oh my dolce angelo," she murmured the term for sweet angel as she rubbed his back and felt his tears dampen her shoulder.

After a few minutes she kissed the top of his head.

"You listen to Nonna. Going to court and standing in front of the judge and making your adoption official isn't what makes Steve and Catherine your mommy and daddy."

He looked up at her and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "It isn't?"

"No, it isn't." Nonna plucked a kleenex out of the box on the table next to her and handed it to him. "What makes them your mommy and daddy, and makes Angie your baby sister, is in here." She laid her hand softly on his chest. "In your heart. Where love lives. That love is what makes you a real family. The rest is just … paperwork."

"I love Steve and Catherine and Angie and Cammie," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Nonna took note of the look of awe on his face and wondered if that was the first time he'd ever allowed himself to love another person.

"And I know they all love you. Very much," she told him.

"Do you think …" DJ eyes held a glimmer of hope that his years without love in his life wouldn't let him grab hold of.

"Do I think what?" Nonna asked.

"Do you think they'd be mad if I started calling them Mommy and Daddy?"

"Oh, my angel, I think it would make them happy beyond words."

DJ's entire face brightened. "Really?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." Nonna's gaze drifted to one of her most cherished ornaments, an engraved cardinal from a kiosk in the mall she'd gotten the first time she became a great-grandmother. "I have an idea. How would you like to go on a last-minute shopping trip with Nonna?"

* * *

"Nonna?" Jacob asked as he kneeled next to her chair while waiting for everyone to assemble to open family presents as was the Christmas Eve tradition. "How come there's witch on your Christmas tree? Aren't witches for Halloween?"

"That's an excellent question, Jacob," Nonna said. "That's not a Halloween witch, that's la Befana."

"What's la Befana?"

She settled back and smiled. "In Italy, where my parents were born, Befana visits the children on the evening before the Feast of the Epiphany," Nonna explained. "Epiphany is the day the three wise men visited the baby Jesus bringing gifts."

When Jadon said, "Gold, frankincense and myrrh," Nonna reached out to pat his cheek, causing him to smile broadly.

"Someone paid attention in church with his mama."

"Yes, ma'am, when your mama's a church lady, you know this stuff."

"You're not getting extra cookies for that," Cody teased, and both boys laughed when Angie said, "Cookie?"

Nonna was still grinning at their banter being similar to Danny and Steve's when she continued, "So la Befana fills children's socks with candy and presents if they're good."

"Like Santa!" Joan said.

"Exactly, bambina, just like Santa. And because she's very tidy, people say she will sweep the floor before she leaves."

"I like her already," Jenna chuckled and Mary agreed.

"A lot of people believe she's sweeping away the problems of the year," Nonna said. "The families leave a small glass of wine and a plate of food for Befana, who's usually portrayed as an old woman riding a broom wearing a black shawl. She's covered in soot from entering through the chimney. Befana is always smiling and carries a bag or box filled with candy and gifts. In modern Italy she's sometimes called the Christmas Witch."

"That's cool," Jacob said. "Thanks for telling us about la Befana. Mom, can we get an ornament like that for home?"

* * *

Even though the Hawaii crew had agreed that it would be better to exchange the bulk of their family gifts after they returned home rather than ship them all the way to New Jersey and back there was still a pile of presents under Nonna's tree after the Christmas Eve unwrapping was over. Not only were there presents from Nonna for everyone, and from everyone to her, but Clara, Eddie, Sal, Angela and all of the New Jersey relatives hadn't been able to resist gifting their visitors with all sorts of souvenirs to help them remember their trip to the Garden State. Everything from coffee mugs and coasters to sweatshirts and Alex and Ani bracelets with NJ charms. In return they'd received gifts emblazoned with enticing depictions of the Hawaiian sunshine and an invitation to come back and visit the island soon.

When all of the gifts were finally opened Nonna pulled one last package from beside her on the chair and held it out to DJ. "Are we ready for this?"

He smiled bravely and nodded, then took the package from her and approached Steve and Catherine who were seated side by side on the couch. "This is for both of you."

He handed them the package then toed the carpet nervously, chewing on his lip.

They looked at each other then at Nonna.

"Open it," she said with a smile.

Grace, who had been chosen by Nonna to drive her and DJ to the mall and was therefore the only other person who knew what was in the box was about to vibrate out of her skin with excitement.

Catherine slid her finger under the edge of the paper covering the thin rectangular shaped box and tore it off. She lifted the lid and immediately let out an audible gasp. Her hand went to her mouth and tears began to stream down her cheeks. Steve, caught completely off guard by what he saw in the box, was unable to hold back his own tears.

They grasped hands and both looked at DJ, standing in front of them with a look of hope on his face but unable to hide the fear in his eyes.

He looked over his shoulder at Nonna who smiled encouragingly then turned back to Steve and Catherine. "Is that ok?"

"It's better than ok," Steve said around the lump in his throat.

Catherine held out her arms. "It's the best Christmas present ever."

DJ's face broke into a wide smile and he allowed himself to be enveloped in a tight hug. As the others watched the new family celebrate there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

"Damn dust," Danny said as he swiped at his eyes.

"There's no dust in Nonna's house and you know it." Gabby nudged his ribs. "You're just a big old softie."

Angie, who had been sitting on Kaitlyn's lap, ran towards the couch and was immediately wrapped into the family hug.

"Look, there's something for you too, Angie," DJ said as he pointed to the box.

"Ok I need to see what's in that box or I'm gonna die of curiosity," Angela said.

Catherine chuckled as she turned the box for the rest of the room to see. Inside were three engraved brass snowman ornaments. The first said _For Daddy, From DJ_. The second _For Mommy, From DJ_. The third _For My Sister Angie, From DJ_.

The entire room erupted in celebration as Nonna sat in her chair with a beaming smile.

"Merry Christmas," she said to no one in particular. "Love really does conquer all."

**Stay tuned for part 6 of the 6th Annual REAL World Holiday Marathon tomorrow**

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